TERMS AND CONDITIONS SUMMARY

Please note: this summary should be read in conjunction with the full VPnet Terms and Conditions and our Schedule of Fees and Charges.

CONTRACT TERMS AND DURATION

All prices quoted are based on the contract term in the plan you select.

• VPnet SIP STARTER – a two-line minimum contract available on a monthly ongoing basis.
• VPnet SIP SAVER – a four-line minimum contract available as a monthly ongoing contract.
• VPnet SIP PLATINUM – a 2-line minimum contract available as a monthly ongoing contract.
• VPnet Business NBN – a NBN contract available as a 24 month ongoing contract.

Monthly ongoing contracts can be terminated at any time with 30 days’ notice, however in some cases, Exit Charges and Early Termination Charges may apply.
The 24 month NBN contract can be terminated at any time with 30 days’ written notice, however Exit Charges and Early Termination Charges will apply.

For full terms and conditions of individual plans please refer to the plan’s Critical Information Summary and the Terms and Conditions in this document.

Before agreeing to terms and conditions, speak to phone maintainer to ensure compatibility of SIP Trunks and NBN services

SERVICE AVAILABILITY

VPnet Services are not available in all areas. We will check the service availability at your business premises location before preparing your service proposal and/or after receiving your Service Order Application form.

SERVICE QUALITY

The quality of SIP services rely on fast and reliable internet services with a large bandwidth. Most quality issues of SIP services are related to internet connections that are slow or congested with other traffic.

We will advise you of the likely service quality you will receive at your location before preparing your service proposal and/or after receiving your Service Order Application form.

If we think your internet connections need improving for SIP, we will inform you of this at the time. For example, some routers are unable to pass SIP traffic.

We may recommend that we undertake a network audit test for a certain period to ascertain the network quality. We will work with you and your service provider to provide the best SIP service possible on your connections.

However, please note that VPnet is not responsible for service quality issues on internet connections and networks that are not fit for purpose and/or that we do not manage.

We advise you to speak with your internet provider to assess your internet services for all SIP services.

CREDIT

Our voice and data solution plans require payment via Ezidebit automated direct debit bill payment.

PAYMENT INFORMATION

You will receive an invoice statement via e-mail each month. If you do not dispute this amount within seven (7) days of receiving your invoice/statement, we will withdraw the amount due from the account nominated in your Ezidebit form.

We will bill you monthly in advance for services and in arrears for calls and data.

Inbound 13/1300/1800 calls and Mobile and International calls are billed per second after the first minute. Total Minimum Costs are calculated over one month and includes monthly access fees.

LATE PAYMENT AND SUSPENSION OF SERVICE

If you do not pay your invoice in full within fourteen (14) days from the due date, a Late Payment Fee of $27.50 services will be charged.

We will notify you by e-mail that your payment has not been received and, if your invoice is not paid within fourteen (14) days, your services will be suspended.

Re-activation of a suspended service will require full payment of the outstanding amount plus a Reconnection of Suspended Service Fee of $82.50.

INTERNATIONAL CALL RATES

International call rates can be found on our website at VPnet International Call Rates and may be subject to change without notice.

FAIR AND ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

All VPnet plans, services and products are offered subject to our Fair and Acceptable Use Policy which can be found on our website at Fair and Acceptable Use Policy.
For example, it is unacceptable to:

• to make more than an average of 400 calls per month, per SIP trunk on VPNET SIP STARTER, SAVER, PLATINUM PLAN
• for a Call Centre. Plans for Call Centre use will be negotiated as a separate and customised plan
• for re-sale, Predictive Dialling systems or for outbound or inbound Telemarketing

DEALING WITH VPNET VIA AN AUTHORISED REPRESENTATIVE

You may deal with VPnet directly, or via your preferred service provider such as your IT Consultant or your current Carrier.

If you would like to appoint an authorised representative to deal with us on your behalf or if you wish to use an advocate, please complete this form: Authorised Representative Form.

And e-mail it to us at admin@vpnet.com.au

CHANGES TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND OUR POLICIES

VPnet reserves the right to vary these Terms and Conditions and its Policies from time to time. We will inform you of our intended changes by e-mail with 30 days’ notice.

Continued use of VPnet Services after receiving notice once the variation takes effect will constitute acceptance of the variation.

VPNET TERMS AND CONDITIONS

VPnet agrees to provide Services to you, and you agree to purchase and/or receive those Services, subject to:

• The Terms and Conditions and Policies in this document
• The relevant Service Description and Critical Information Summary for each service ordered
• Specific Services, Hardware and Scope of Works specified in the quote or proposal you have signed in respect of the Services.
• All applicable Australian laws. To the extent of any inconsistency, these Terms and Conditions shall prevail over the relevant Service Description. You must ensure that third parties using the Service do so in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and the relevant Service Description.

SERVICE FEATURES

While VPnet will do its best to provide the Service in accordance with the relevant Service Description and the Quote or Proposal you have signed, we may change some elements of the Service Description at any time for operational or network planning reasons.

VPnet will use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that such changes do not adversely impact your use of the Service.

The Service has the features set out in the Description of Service Features and Charges. You agree that we may at any time, and without first telling you or asking for your consent:

• Modify or replace one or all of the features of the Service; or
• Provide additional features to those set out in the Description of Service Features and Charges. While we always strive to improve our services to you, if you find that you are adversely or negatively affected by any change by VPnet to your Services, you may contact us to inform us of these effects and we will investigate your concerns thoroughly. You will have the opportunity to make a complaint and if you are not satisfied with our solution, you may terminate your contract with us.

SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS

From time to time necessary interruptions to the Service may occur for reasons such as maintenance or upgrades. We will inform you of any planned interruptions via e-mail.

These interruptions will be subject to our Service Level Agreement with you.

SERVICE FAULTS

If you experience a fault using the Service, please send an e-mail to:
service@vpnet.com.au or call 1300 936 450 and inform a Customer Service Representative of your difficulties. We will attempt to resolve any problems as soon as practicable.

FRAUDULENT USE OF SERVICE

You agree to notify VPnet immediately, via e-mail to service@vpnet.com.au or by calling the VPnet Customer Service line on 1300 936 450, if any hardware provided as part of your VPnet Service is stolen or if you become aware at any time that your Service is being stolen or fraudulently used.

When you call or write, you must provide your account number and a detailed description of the circumstances of the theft or fraudulent use of VPnet Service. Failure to do so in a timely manner may result in the termination of your Service and additional charges to you.

You will be liable to pay for the services used if the Service is breached and used inappropriately regardless of lack of awareness or knowledge.

If you are responsible for theft of the Service, VPnet will take whatever course of action necessary to recover damages and lost income from you that VPnet is rightfully entitled to.

EMERGENCY SERVICES

You acknowledge and understand that dialling 000 emergency services may not function correctly if you move or otherwise change the physical location of the Service.

In the event that you dial an emergency service number from the Service, the service address provided by you to VPnet will be displayed to the emergency services operator. It is your responsibility to notify VPnet of any changes to your Service address details. In the event of a power failure or disruption to your Broadband Internet connection, you will not be able to use the VPnet service to contact emergency services. For this reason we recommend that you have an alternative medium of contact, such as a mobile telephone.

EXTERNAL INTERRUPTIONS

Because the VPnet Network is dependent on the networks of other Carriers over which we have no control, certain features of the Service may not be available when you are using the Service, and we do not guarantee the quality and reliability of the Service.

Other factors such as third party hardware and/or software together or your Broadband Internet connection may also cause interruptions to the Service for which VPnet takes no responsibility.

VPnet will not be liable to provide the Service to you if it becomes impracticable to do so due to causes beyond VP Net’s reasonable control, including, without limitation, force majeure, civil disorder or war, national or local emergency, adverse weather conditions, industrial dispute or acts or omissions of other Carriers or Carriage Service Providers or any authority.

SERVICE QUALITY

The quality of SIP services rely on fast and reliable internet services with adequate bandwidth. Most quality issues of SIP services are related to internet connections that are slow or congested with other traffic.

We will advise you of the likely service quality you will receive at your location before preparing your service proposal and/or after receiving your Service Order Application form.

If we think your internet connections need improving for SIP, we will inform you of this at the time. We advise you to speak with your internet service provide to have a good idea of your internet capabilities.

We may recommend that we undertake a network audit test for a certain period to ascertain the network quality. We will work with you and your service provider to provide the best SIP service possible on your connections.

However, please note that VPnet is not responsible for service quality issues on internet connections and networks that are not fit for purpose and/or that we do not manage directly.

CHANGING PRICING PLANS

We may, in our absolute discretion, agree with you to change your Pricing Plan.

VPnet will only permit you to change your choice of Pricing Plan once a month and if your account has no overdue payments. Your Pricing Plan will be changed within 7 days of VPnet receiving your request and any included calls will be pro-rated.

To change Pricing Plans contact VPnet Customer Service on 1300 936 450.

YOUR OBLIGATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF THE SERVICE

When using the Service, you will ensure that you and others comply at all times with all laws and obligations, regulations, codes or determinations or any other requirements of any government or statutory authority, including licence conditions, applicable to the Services and their use. Failure to comply with any licence, permit or authorisation relating to the connection of equipment to the Service Delivery Point or the use of the Services may result in immediate termination of the agreement.

You must take all reasonable steps to ensure that any other person who uses the Service must only use the Service in accordance with this Agreement or otherwise in a manner approved by us.

You must not use the Service, attempt to use the Service or allow the Service to be used in any way that involves or enables:

• You or VPnet breaching, or being involved in a breach of a law, order or regulation (including a foreign law, order or regulation), a mandatory code of conduct; or a voluntary code of conduct that you have agreed to comply with;
• Damage to property or people which results, or could result, in damage to property or injury to any person;
• A minor to access material inappropriate for a minor or to establish (or try to establish) contact with a minor not otherwise known to you;
• Harassing, menacing or stalking people
• Inciting discrimination, hate or violence towards one person or group, for example because of their race, religion, gender or nationality;
• Obscene, defamatory, offensive, abusive material to be viewed, stored in digital format, distributed or promoted
• Illegal business practices and gambling
• Misleading or deceptive business or marketing practice
• Providing or promoting illegal pyramid selling schemes or unlawful gambling or gaming activities;
• The infringement of the rights of others (including intellectual property rights and moral rights), including the misuse of confidential, private or commercially sensitive information belonging to VPnet or any other business, organisation or individual
• The re-sale, distribution or reproduction of any part of the Service
• The use of calling line identification or information derived from calling line identification except in accordance with the Privacy Act
• The disclosure or distribution of Confidential Information, security numbers or passwords provided by us (including but not limited to your customer number, or personal identification number).You indemnify and shall keep VPnet indemnified against all claims, costs, loss, expenses or injuries arising in relation to a breach of this clause.

CHANGE OF DETAILS

If you relocate or change your correspondence address (electronic or otherwise) you must inform VPnet of this change immediately. If the status of your line with your local network operator changes this may affect your access to certain Services and you should advise one of our Customer Service Representatives on 1300 936 450.

CHARGES AND BILLING

We will charge you the Charges for your use of the Services applicable to the chosen Pricing Plan(s) selected and agreed to in any quote or proposal provided by VPnet and signed by you.

Charges will include:

• A Monthly Service fee which we will charge you on your invoice issue date, monthly in advance;
• Charges for your use of the Service which VP Net will charge you monthly in arrears; and
• Miscellaneous charges (for example, connection and disconnection charges if applicable) which we will also charge you monthly in arrears whenever you incur such charges, each of which are set out in the Schedule of Fees and Charges and include GST (where applicable or unless otherwise indicated) but not any other government taxes, which you may also be required to pay.

ADDITIONAL SERVICES

The Activation of additional services you order after the initial Service begins, such as a second line, on any other date than your invoice issue date, will be charged on the next invoice for monthly service fee at a pro rata rate from the activation date to the invoice issue date. Each month thereafter the services will be invoiced as per the initial connection’s invoice issue date. These changes may be subject to a Service Alteration Fee.

ROUNDING

The actual charges we charge you may vary on your Invoice, as each Charge is rounded up to the nearest cent before GST is included.

VARIATIONS TO CHARGES AND SPECIAL PROMOTIONS

If we wish, we may:

• Change the Charges from time to time or decide not to make a particular Charge; and
• Run special promotions or offers from time to time in connection with the Service under which particular Charges may be waived or may differ from those set out in the Description of Service Features and Charges. You may be eligible to participate in a special promotion or offer depending on its terms and conditions. VP Net may withdraw a promotion at any time. And unless otherwise specified or agreed to by VP Net, promotions may not be used in conjunction with one another.

You may obtain a copy of the current Charges by visiting VP Schedule of Fees and Charges or contacting Customer Service on 1300 936 450.

PAYMENT FOR SERVICES

Invoicing

You will be invoiced monthly on your invoice issue date. Your invoices will be sent to your nominated e-mail address.

If you do not receive your invoice it is your responsibility to notify VP Net immediately.

The presentation of the invoice may be affected by your choice of equipment and software. VP Net will not accept any responsibility for consequential presentation, distortion or absence.

Invoice charges

Invoices are sent via e-mail in a soft-copy PDF format from service@vpnet.com.au. Invoices sent in an electronic format do not attract charges.

This is an automatically generated email and the mailbox billing@vpnet.com.au is not a monitored email address. Any billing enquiries should be sent to service@vpnet.com.au

If you request an archived or hard copy invoice you will be charged a $5.50 administrative fee per invoice to cover our costs for recovery of the material.

Invoice Frequency

An electronic invoice is issued once a month on your invoice issue date.

Payment of your Invoices

Upon connection, you agree to make all payments from the credit/charge card or bank account that you nominated in your Service Order Form, unless otherwise agreed by us, at our discretion. We do not accept American Express/Diners Card.

You must pay each invoice in full by the due date, that is, 15 days from your invoice issue date or on the next business day.

Overdue Invoices

If you do not pay your invoices on time or cancel your payment authority, your services will be suspended and you will be liable for additional fees as set out in these Terms and Conditions.

Security Deposits

We may require you to pay a security deposit if you intend to use some Special Services. If we choose to do so, we may apply the security deposit (or any part of it), in payment of any outstanding charges.

CREDIT ASSESSMENT

When assessing your application for VPnet services, VPnet may at its discretion undertake a Credit Assessment to determine whether to supply you with a service. When subscribing to VP Net, a Credit Assessment may include, but is not limited to:

• A charge of $1.00 against the credit/charge card supplied by you in your application/order. This charge is to ensure the credit card supplied by you is valid. The charge of $1.00 will then be refunded the following business day
• Your employment status
• Your residential history
• A Credit Check with a Credit Reporting Agency.

If you are an existing VPnet customer this Credit Assessment may include but is not limited to:

• Your previous payment history with VP Net
• Another charge of $1.00 against a new/replacement credit card nominated by you. This charge is to ensure the credit card supplied by you is valid. The charge of $1.00 will then be refunded the following business day.

Should VPnet decide to refuse to supply you with a Service, which is entirely or partially based on information provided by a Credit Reporting Agency, you have the right to ask:

• Why the application/order for VPnet services has been refused;
• Why the decision was entirely or partially based on information about you, provided to VPnet by a Credit Reporting Agency;
• What the name and address of the Credit Reporting Agency; and
• What your rights are to obtain access to your credit file from the Credit Reporting Agency.

Before we request a credit report on you, we will seek your consent, either online or via voice recording. We do not seek credit reports on persons under 18 years of age. We may utilise the following organisations to supply us with a credit history about you:

• Equifax: www.equifax.com.au
• Dun and Bradstreet (Australia) Pty Ltd: www.dnb.com.au

We may also supply your credit history and information that we receive from our external Credit Reporting Organisations to various partners, some of whom are located outside of Australia in order to perform credit related activities and manage your services.

In particular, we may utilise printers, mail distributors, couriers and dispatch centres who provide us billing and debt-recovery functions.

We may also disclose such information to an external call centre to manage your credit information and your services generally on our behalf. We also provide certain credit-related information to our mercantile agencies within Australia who assist us with debt-recovery functions.

If you believe that you have been, or are likely to be a victim of credit fraud, you can contact a credit reporting organisation (including those listed above) and request that organisations not use or disclose your credit history.

We recognise the importance of protecting the credit information we hold and ensuring that it is complete, accurate, up-to-date and relevant. You have a right to access credit reporting information we hold about you.

If you are unhappy about the way we handled your credit, including if you would like to complain about the way we obtained your credit history or that we have supplied incorrect credit information about you, you can make a complaint in accordance with the complaint handling policy in our Privacy Policy.

For full information about how we use, collect and disclose your personal information (including your credit history), please refer to our Privacy Policy>.

PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS

You must pay VPnet all invoiced Charges and Fees and applicable Government Taxes which you incur by accessing and using the Service by the due date of your invoice.

You agree that all Charges incurred by you in using the VPnet Service are your responsibility, irrespective of whether you or another person (with or without your consent) used this Service. This means you must pay for calls and charges incurred with or without your knowledge.

We have chosen to structure our charges so that all monthly Service Fees are charged in advance and any call charges are charged in arrears.

You must provide us with your credit card details, or alternate payment details (agreed to by us at our discretion) and advise of any changes to these details, for the purposes of paying for your VPnet Service.

We may:

• Charge all fees to your nominated payment method on a monthly basis from your Service commencement date; and
• Disclose your payment details to, and obtain information from, any financial institution to verify your payment details. You must:
• Take steps to verify that you have sufficient funds on your credit card or bank account to meet likely fees
• Take all steps to ensure that VPnet is notified of any changes to your payment details.

IMPORTANT:

• If any amount owed by you remains unpaid after the due date, we may terminate this Agreement.
• Processing and verification procedures may mean that not all charges made during the period covered by an invoice can be included in that invoice. VPnet may include those charges in any subsequent invoices for a period of up to 190 days after the call was made.
• Your invoice will be calculated by reference to data recorded or logged by VPnet and our suppliers. Records held and call- logging procedures adopted by VPnet will be conclusive evidence of the usage of the Service and the charges payable by you.
• If your accumulated call charges for use of the Service are deemed as being in breach of our Fair and Acceptable Use Policy at any time, VPnet may at its absolute discretion, suspend your access to the Service. VPnet may suspend provision of the Service to you without prior notice.
• In addition, VPnet may impose a charge on you to cover VP Net’s reasonable expenses and costs incurred in enforcing any failure or delay in your payment.
• You must pay any taxes (including, without limitation, any goods and services tax), duties, stamp duties, imposts, levies or government charges relating to your use of the Service.
• Despite anything in these Terms and Conditions, VPnet may suspend your Service as a result of any unpaid charges extending beyond 60 days from the date that the charges were due for payment. If any amounts are outstanding beyond 60 days from the date on which payment for those charges was due, this Agreement may be terminated by VPnet immediately and you will be required to pay all outstanding charges to VPnet immediately.
• If your account remains unpaid in part or in whole for a period of two months (60 days) from the due date, your information may be referred to a debt collection agency or credit reference agency. VPnet may charge reasonable expenses in connection with recovery of late payments (including the costs of engaging a mercantile recovery agency). If VPnet engages a mercantile agent or institutes legal proceedings to recover any outstanding amounts due under the terms and conditions of this contract, you will, to the extent permitted by law, be liable for VP Net’s costs of taking that action.
• If you are declared to be experiencing financial hardship under VP Net’s Financial Hardship Policy and your account remains unpaid in part or in whole for a period of two months (60 days) from the due date, VPnet may agree to extend repayment of any outstanding fees beyond 60 days.
• If you believe there is an error with your account, please let us know immediately. If we agree that there is an error, VPnet will endeavour to rectify this error to reflect on your next invoice.

TERM OF SERVICE

TERM OF AGREEMENT

The term of your connection is outlined in your Service Agreement, Quote or Proposal.

If you have signed up to a term agreement, such as a 24-month agreement, the contract start is deemed to:

• Commence on the date when the service is first connected
• End when it is terminated either by you or us in accordance with this Agreement. Where the minimum term has expired it will continue on a month-to-month basis until:
• Terminated by you in accordance with this Agreement
• Terminated by VPnet in accordance with this Agreement. Please note: we will contact by phone or email 120 days in advance of your contract termination date to ask if you would like to sign a new agreement on a new plans.

SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF THE SERVICE

Please be advised that your Service may be suspended or terminated in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, and every care will be taken to undertake these activities with due process.

Although VPnet will endeavour to give as much notice as reasonably practicable, VPnet may suspend the Service at any time.

SUSPENSION FOR HIGH USAGE/UNUSUAL USAGE

VPnet randomly monitors high usage of the Service. At our discretion we may suspend the Service (or any part of the Service) until you pay the next invoice or incurred call charges.

We may suspend or limit the Service if in our opinion the amount of charges incurred is unusually high, having regard to matters including:

• Your previous daily charges
• Your un-invoiced charges total
• Any unusual calling patterns.

Suspension for unusually high charges is to protect you against unaffordable charges incurred. VPnet will attempt to contact you prior to suspension of the service.

TOLL FRAUD – YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

Toll-Fraud causes billions of dollars in losses world-wide and all telephone systems can fall victim. Toll Fraud takes a variety of forms when hackers:

• Access large numbers of free calls via your account – usually for on-sale to their own customers
• Make multiple calls to costly paid services
• Steal company information or cause malicious damage. The result is that you can receive a large telephone bill or incur costs of security breaches. As a VPnet customer, you have agreed to pay for all calls made on your account. So it is important to do all you can to minimise the opportunity for hackers to access your PBX.

Here is a checklist of ways to reduce your exposure to Toll Fraud Risk:

• Train staff to Report any suspected security breaches or suspicious call traffic immediately
• Harden your IT security and your Internet gateway to prevent it from being remotely accessed from the Internet, except via secure technologies and policies
• Establish and maintain high-level security policies around secure username and passwords and change them often
• Use random numbers for PINs on Telephone Systems and voice mailboxes and use the maximum number of digits possible
• Do not leave system passwords as default and use the maximum number of characters and types of characters
• When a staff member is terminated or leaves, immediately cancel extensions, check forwarding and remove STD/IDD access, passwords and security codes
• Do not divulge passwords/codes or modem access numbers over the phone nor write them in email
• Consider changing remote access details from time to time (eg. Modem numbers)
• Block remote access via the Internet unless specifically required at the time remote support is necessary
• Restrict administration access to your system, and change passwords regularly and/or when staff leave
• Limit access to your IT systems to professional and reputable service providers who are aware of IT Security and Toll Fraud
• Train staff to not connect anyone they do not know to an outgoing trunk;
• Bar access to countries or interstate locations that do not require telephone access, if you do not do business in that area there is no necessity to make calls there;
• Do not allow Voice Mail, Auto Attendant (AA), Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) or other systems
• to have outgoing trunk access or external call forwarding unless absolutely required
• Do not allow Voice Mail Systems to have international trunk access without serious consideration
• If possible, disable the ability to forward extensions to outside lines (e.g. ‘0’), trunks and/or IDD numbers
• When extensions are moved through software, ensure that any special access rights (e.g. IDD access, call forwarding) are removed from the ‘freed’ port
• Ensure effective call barring has been carried out
• Consider barring outgoing calls after hours (except emergency 000) and place the authorised night switching station in a secure location.
• Remain alert to any unusual changes or increases in calls, duration, destinations, or traffic volume
• Familiarise yourself with calling patterns and review them regularly.
• Study Call Detail records and billing records for any signs of fraudulent activity
• Review Voicemail reports
• Remain vigilant for heavy call volumes out-of-hours, at nights or on weekends and public holidays
• Keep your telephone system software updated and have it audited and checked for security weak points.
• Store information on the Telephone system’s authorisation codes securely – do not write authorisation codes and passwords in notebooks
• Shred or securely dispose of call detail records and sensitive system information – fraudsters may try to sift through your rubbish
• Keep System Manuals in a locked and secure location. Do not write sensitive information – such as passwords, IP addresses and security codes – in these manuals.
• Cabinets used to store system manuals should be kept locked
• Ideally your telephone system and IT network and peripherals should be located in a secure, locked location, accessible only by authorised staff.

IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION, LIMITATION AND TERMINATION IN OUR ABSOLUTE DISCRETION

Although we will try to give you as much notice as is reasonably practicable, we may, if we choose (and without notice) immediately suspend or limit the Service (or any feature of it) for any period we think is reasonably necessary; or Terminate this Agreement, if:

• You fail to pay us the charges or are in breach of this Agreement, and where such breach can be corrected, you fail to correct the breach within 7 days of us requesting you to do so
• We believe that the use of the Service (or any feature of it) by you or any other person is, or may, damaging, impairing or interfering with the VPnet Network or any of our other systems or equipment
• The Service (or any feature of it) is being used to commit unauthorised, criminal or unlawful activities
• The Service (or any feature of it) is being used by you or another person in a manner which is unusual, unreasonable, excessive or fraudulent.
• You are a Carriage Service Provider or Carrier, or are operating as a Carriage Service.
• VPnet becomes aware of unauthorised equipment being used on our network. In this case, we will issue you with a formal written warning to discontinue use and remove the equipment. If you do not comply with this request, VPnet will take steps to immediately disconnect you from the network.

You will be responsible for any costs incurred if:

• You become Insolvent; or if you are a partnership, the partnership ceases; or if you are a company, the company is placed in receivership or bankruptcy.

IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION, LIMITATION AND TERMINATION ON INSTRUCTION OF CERTAIN THIRD PARTIES OR FOR TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

Although we will try to give you as much notice as is reasonably practicable, we may, if we so choose (and without notice) immediately Terminate the agreement and/or Suspend or limit the Service (or any feature of it) for any period we think is reasonably necessary if:

• We are required to do so by a regulatory authority such as the ACMA; or the law, or a law enforcement agency;
• We are obliged to do so on the request of a Content Provider; or
• There are technical problems with the VPnet Network, which require corrective action by us.

SUSPENSION, LIMITATION AND TERMINATION WITH NOTICE

In addition to our rights above, we may, by giving you reasonable notice (in any event at least 14 days’ notice):

• Suspend or limit the Service (or any feature of it) for such period as we determine is reasonably necessary; or
• Terminate this Agreement.

YOUR RIGHT TO TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT

You may terminate this Agreement by giving us 30 days’ notice by contacting us on 1300 936 450 between 8.30am – 5.00pm AEST / AEDT, on any Business Day. We will debit your nominated payment method (e.g. Credit Card) for all charges you incur (including the Monthly Service fee) up until the point of termination. Termination will take place on your designated invoice issue date, once the funds have been debited.

After terminating your service with us, you will receive a final invoice on your regular invoice date, which will include all charges incurred by you up to, and including, the date on which your Service was terminated.

If you have purchased hardware at a discounted rate and agreed to a minimum term contract you may also be liable for the full RRP (Recommended Retail Price) of the hardware upon termination (if within the minimum term).

Other charges may be applicable if you terminate your Service within the minimum terms, refer to the relevant Service Description for details.

TERMINATION AS A RESULT OF PORTING / CHURNING AWAY FROM VP NET

You may terminate this Agreement by Porting / Churning your VPnet Service to another Carrier or Carriage Service Provider at any point. Should you port your number across to another provider, having purchased the Service at a subsidised rate by agreeing to a minimum term contract or for some other reason, you may be required to pay back the subsidy if the minimum term contract has not been fulfilled.

CONSEQUENCES OF SUSPENSION OR LIMITATION

If we suspend or limit the Service (or any feature of it), you will be barred from using the Service (or the feature of it which we suspend/limit) until we un-bar the Service (or the feature of it which we have suspended/limited). We will continue to charge you, and you must pay us, the Monthly Service fee during the period in which your Service was suspended or limited.

CONSEQUENCES OF TERMINATION

Upon termination of this Agreement:

• We will stop providing you with the Service, disconnect the Service and send you a final invoice for all accrued and outstanding Charges; and
• You will no longer have the right to use the Service.

OBLIGATIONS ON TERMINATION

If this Agreement is terminated, you must pay all amounts which you owe us under this Agreement by the due date on your final invoice. We must refund to you any amount we hold on your behalf after you have paid us all the amounts, which you owe us under this Agreement. We may, if we choose, offset against any amounts we hold on your behalf (for example, a security deposit), any amounts, which you owe us.

You acknowledge that we may not pay you an amount we owe you because:

• We are unable to locate and/or contact you; or
• Your nominated credit card or bank account is no longer valid.

LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY

OUR LIABILITY TO THE CUSTOMER

You agree to use the Service (and each of its features) accepting full risk and responsibility in doing so.

You agree that, subject to these Terms and Conditions, we are not liable to you for any loss or damage (including Consequential Loss) whatsoever arising (including for VP Net’s breach of this Agreement) which you suffer under or in connection with this Agreement or the supply of the Service, unless you suffer direct loss or damage because of any negligent act or negligent omission by us under or in connection with this Agreement, in which event we will be liable to you for any such direct loss or damage suffered (but, for avoidance of doubt, not any Consequential Loss suffered). For example, we are not liable to you for any loss or damage (including Consequential Loss) you suffer as a result of:

• You or any other person using the Service or any of its features for any purpose in breach of this Agreement)
• Any person accessing or using Material you send or doing anything on the basis of Material you send
• Any Material you send being inaccurate, incomplete, not current, or of inadequate quality, or otherwise in breach of your obligations under this Agreement regarding use of the Service
• Us Adapting any Material to enable it to be received or sent
• You not receiving any material, or a delay in you receiving any material you have requested
• Any person to whom you send, or attempt to send Material to, not receiving the Material, or a delay in that person receiving the Material.

IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES AND OUR MAXIMUM LIABILITY TO YOU

To the extent legally permissible, all conditions, terms and warranties which may be implied by custom, law or legislation into this Agreement are excluded; and

• Our maximum liability to you under or in connection with this Agreement, the supply of the Service, for any negligent act or omission by us (including our employees, contractors and agents) or for any other liability which is not excluded under this Agreement, will not be more than the total Charges paid by you under this Agreement: during the 1 month period prior to your claim; or if this Agreement started less than month prior to your claim, since the start of this Agreement.

LIABILITY WHICH WE CANNOT EXCLUDE

Despite any of the above, we will be liable to you under any rights, which you may have under the Trade Practices Act 1974 and other legislation, for which we cannot exclude our liability. Even so, where our liability in respect of such rights can be limited, it is limited as we choose, to:

• In the case of goods, the replacement of the goods or the supply of equivalent goods; the repair of the goods; the payment of the cost of replacing the goods or acquiring equivalent goods; or the payment of the cost of having the goods repaired; and
• In the case of Services, the re-supply of the Services and/or payment of the cost of having the Services supplied again.

YOU INDEMNIFY US

You indemnify us any loss or damage we suffer relating to the use of the VPnet service by you. This indemnity does not apply to any loss or damage we suffer as a result of any wilful misconduct or reckless act or omission by us. Your obligations under this indemnity will continue despite:

• The Termination of this Agreement; or
• The occurrence of any other thing, until all monies you owe us have been paid in full.

CONTRIBUTORY LOSS

VP Net’s liability for any loss, cost or damage suffered or incurred by you is reduced to the extent that your acts, omissions, equipment or external causes contribute to that loss, cost or damage.

LEGALS

ASSURANCES

By entering into this Agreement you assure us that:

• You have provided full and accurate personal information to us in connection with this Agreement and that you will continue to ensure this information is accurate whilst there continues to be an Agreement between the parties (you and VP Net) in place;
• You have full power and authority to enter into this Agreement; and
• You will do all that you need to do to perform your obligations under this Agreement. By entering this Agreement we assure you that:
• We are a carriage service provider under the Act; and
• Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, we will provide the Service with all reasonable care and in a timely manner.

ASSIGNMENT

You may not transfer any rights and obligations under this Agreement without us first agreeing in writing. We may, without telling you:

• Transfer our rights and obligations under this Agreement to another entity;
• Temporarily or permanently get another entity to perform our obligations under this Agreement on our behalf; or
• Require you to sign an agreement in the form of this Agreement with the other entity we nominate (or, if we cannot find you, we may sign such an agreement on your behalf which, upon entering this Agreement, you authorise us to do).

ENFORCEABILITY

If any term in this Agreement is not enforceable in a certain State or Territory of Australia, this does not mean that:

• That term or right is not enforceable in any other State or Territory of Australia; or
• Any other term or right is not enforceable in that State or Territory of Australia or in any other State or Territory of Australia.

WAIVER

The only way in which we can be said to have given up any rights we have under this Agreement is if we agree to do so in writing. Even if we give up one of our rights under this Agreement in a particular circumstance that does not mean that we have generally given up that right. A failure or delay to exercise a right under this Agreement does not constitute a waiver of the Agreement.

VARIATION AND CHANGES

From time to time we may need to make changes to Service Features and Charges. This may be done without your agreement if the change is beneficial to you or does not adversely affect you.

If a change to this Agreement is detrimental to you we will give you at least 30 days’ notice before the change takes place. We will post notice of the change on our website and we will notify you directly of the change in writing by:

• Email – to the last address you have given us
• A message on your monthly invoice.

If a change we make is detrimental to you and you are in a fixed term agreement at the time of receiving notice of the change, you may cancel the agreement without incurring any Break fees or Early Termination fees, by giving us notice within 42 days after the date of receiving written notice of the change. If you give us notice to cancel your service in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and our Policy, you will still be liable for any usage-based charges or variable charges incurred by you up to the date of your cancellation. You will also be liable for installation fees and costs of equipment we provided to you that you did not pay for, as long as that equipment can be used in connection with services supplied by another provider. You acknowledge that we do not have to give you 30 days’ notice of a change to the Agreement or offer you the right to cancel your service if you are in a fixed term agreement, even if that change impacts you, in relation to:

• An increase in international call rates, which can be varied without notice at any time in accordance with relevant industry codes. Current international call rates are available on our website at www.vpnet.com.au/international-call-rates
• An increase in charges related to premium services which we resell to you from a third party
• The introduction of an additional tax or levy that is imposed by law (for example an increase in the rate of GST which is directed at you, but not, for example, an increase in the corporate tax rate which is directed at us)
• Changes we are required to make due to a change in the law
• Changes we are required to make for security reasons
• Changes we are required to make to protect the integrity of our Service or network.

INCONSISTENCY

If there is any inconsistency between this Agreement and any brochures or other marketing or advertising material, which relate to the Service or this Agreement then this Agreement prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

COMMISSION

You acknowledge that we may pay an agent a commission for introducing you to us and/or the Service.

NOTICES

You agree that we may give you written notice in connection with this Agreement by:

• Sending the notice to the e-mail address, postal address or fax number, which you advise us of in your application or otherwise. Where VPnet is entitled to notify you of information relating to these Terms and Conditions and your Service Agreements and changes to them by email, you acknowledge that you have consented to VPnet sending you such notices to your nominated addresses;
• If the change is deemed by us to be detrimental to you, VPnet will, supply a notice of varying terms no less than 30 (thirty) days prior to the change taking place.

GOVERNING LAW & JURISDICTION

The laws of New South Wales, Australia govern this Agreement. Each of us agrees to submit (and may not subsequently change our mind about doing so) to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales.

IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS AGREEMENT

Please call:

• Customer Service on 1300 936 450; or
• The National Relay Service for communications assistance or the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 to ask an interpreter to contact us for help.

LOCAL ACCESS

VPnet makes no representation that the information contained in this web site or that access to this web site is appropriate or available for use throughout the world. You are responsible for compliance with all applicable local laws in the particular location from which you access this web site, including but not limited to, all applicable export and import laws and regulations.

PROHIBITED USE

You are prohibited from posting or transmitting any unlawful, threatening, obscene, libellous, defamatory or otherwise offensive material.

GOVERNING LAW

The laws of New South Wales, Australia, exclusive of its conflict of law provisions, shall govern any claims relating to our web site.

SERVICE LIMITATIONS

Below is a list of VPnet Service limitations and policies on emergency service limitations, priority assistance, porting and other topics.

EMERGENCY SERVICES

Dialling emergency services will cease to function correctly if you move or otherwise change the physical location of your VPnet service. Onus rests on the customer to notify VPnet of any changes to your service address details.

In the event of a VPnet network outage, power failure or disruption to your Broadband Internet connection, you will not be able to use the Service to dial emergency services. For this reason we recommend that you have an alternative medium of contact, such as a cellular telephone.

Switchboard is an incoming call service only. Therefore outgoing calls and calls to emergency services using the Switchboard number are not possible.

NUMBER PORTABILITY

Currently VPnet is capable of porting most allocated VoIP numbers. However VPnet cannot port particular ranges of numbers. VPnet is working with other carriers on a Number Portability solution. There is no definitive timeframe as to when this service may be available.

DIRECTORY LISTINGS

VPnet does not create or update Sensis White Page and Yellow Pages listings. Please contact Sensis to create/update these details or go to: www.sensis.com.au

You should also update your listings on:

• Google Places
• Website Contact pages
• Social Marketing pages
• Printed collateral

SWITCHBOARD

This is deemed a secondary service, where you receive incoming calls to your existing primary VPnet number via your Switchboard number. The Switchboard number acts in a call forwarding manner. Therefore outgoing calls from the Switchboard number are not possible.

Switchboard numbers can only be allocated within VP Net’s Points of Presence.

IMPORTANT: The switchboard service does not support calls to emergency services or Voicemail and other features.

BYO (BRING YOUR OWN)

VPnet limits the extent of support for BYO users to that of Customer Service only, which includes account and billing enquires. Due to the flexibility the service offers users, it is not feasible or practicable for VPnet to offer technical support.

Whilst the BYO service is designed to allow users to bring their own device, under no circumstances does VPnet offer any guarantee or assurance that all SIP Devices will be compatible and function with the BYO service.

Features available through BYO are at a network level. Both network and individual device features may be incompatible with BYO depending on the SIP device and the settings used.

BYO does not support Provisioning. Therefore users of the service will not receive automatic updates or configurations from the BYO network.

The BYO service will cease to work in the event of power failure as no network redundancy is provided.

BYO does not support calls to emergency services. Whilst calls may connect to emergency services, these calls may not be routed to the correct State.

Calls to 13/1300/1800 numbers may not be routed to the correct termination point.

PRIORITY ASSISTANCE

At present VPnet does not offer a Priority Assistance service for life threatening medical conditions.

13/1300/1800 NUMBERS

If you are issued a geographic telephone number in accordance with the address you provided (where the VPnet service is to be used) VPnet will attempt to route these calls through the local gateway. Generally calls to these numbers should work correctly, with exception to an incidence of network congestion where an alternate gateway overflow is used for example.

However, once VPnet has routed the call out the correct gateway, it is still a matter of whether the upstream carrier has configured the 13/1300/1800 Service to allow their switches to correctly route to a termination point.

COMMUNICATION

You agree that VP Net’s primary mode of communication will be via electronic mail for the delivery of invoices and all other collateral (including communications pertaining to Fair Use, Marketing, Compliance and Regulatory matters) issued by VP Net. This however, does not rule out the use of post, facsimile or telecommunications as means of communication and they shall be employed at our discretion to contact you.

FAIR AND ACCEPTABLE USE

This policy covers every customer that signs a VPnet Customer Agreement. It sets out the responsibilities for both VPnet and our Customers and the acceptable and fair use of our services. Customers should read this policy carefully before signing any contract with VP Net.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

All VPnet Customers agree they will not use, attempt to use, or allow their Service to be used for any unlawful or malicious purpose. If a VPnet Customer puts any person, equipment, network or software at risk of harm or danger of being broken or damaged, VPnet reserves the right to terminate, suspend or restrict that service immediately.

VPnet Customers will be required to meet reasonable standards and policies set by our direct and third-party suppliers and partners. Should a Customer be unable to meet these standards and policies, VPnet reserves the right to terminate, suspend or restrict the Customer’s Service immediately.

Specific examples of behaviour that would be in breach this Policy includes any act or release or distribution of material that:

• Breaks any law, code or standard;
• Communicates, distributes or stores data or material that:
  • Can be regarded as SPAM
  • Can be regarded as being pornographic, offensive, defamatory, discriminatory, abusive, indecent, menacing, unwanted or violates the privacy or rights of another party;
  • Sends material to another party, or attempts to call another party, that has opted-out of receiving that type of communication.
  • Gains or attempts to gain unauthorised access to a person’s private or personal information or a company’s commercially-sensitive information
  • Attempts to use another person’s name, username or password or attempt to gain access to the account of any person or company;
  • Provides false, misleading or deceptive information about yourself or your business to us or any other person in relation to your use of the Services or in order to gain access to a Service or a Service feature; or
  • Infringes any person or company’s intellectual property or other rights;
  • Compromises the security or integrity of any network or system;
  • Accesses, downloads, stores, sends or distributes crime ware, viruses, spy software or other harmful material;
  • Interferes, restricts or disrupt Services or any other person or company’s use or enjoyment of Services;
  • Use the Service to communicate with emergency service organisations where no emergency situation exists;
  • Disguise the origin of a use or communication;
  • Access, monitor or use any data or traffic on any systems or networks without authority;
  • Attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of any data, system or network;
  • Use the Services for the purposes of arbitrage;
  • Overload any network or system including our infrastructure, network and/or systems;
  • Tamper with, hinder the operation of or make unauthorised modifications to any network or system;
  • Authorise, aid, abet, encourage or incite any other person to do or attempt to do any of the above acts.

ACCEPTABLE USE

VPnet Customers acknowledge that:

• VPnet is not responsible for the content of the Services;
• Use of the Services is at the Customer’s sole risk;
• VPnet is not liable for any unsolicited or unwelcome information disseminated via the Services to the Customer or the consequences of the Customer receiving such information;
• The Internet:
  • Is not necessarily a secure and confidential method of communication and the Customer transmits data at their own risk
  • Contains crime ware, viruses, trojan programs, spy software and other harmful material that may destroy or corrupt a Customer’s own system
  • Is not controlled by VPnet and VPnet is not liable for any damage to, or loss of data caused by material accessed on the internet.
• Customers are responsible for providing, configuring or maintaining any equipment or software they need to access theServices, as well as for the security and integrity of Customer’s data (in particular for protecting equipment from unauthorised third parties using your hardware of software) except where we have agreed to provide and manage certain equipment or software.

UNREASONABLE USE

The Customer acknowledges that VPnet reserves the right to withdraw or vary a Service if it considers Customer’s use of a Service, Plan inclusion, Promotion and/or offer to be unreasonable or unfair.

The following acts are examples of Unreasonable or Unfair Use:

• Making more than an average of 400 calls per month, per SIP trunk. (500 calls for SIP Enterprise Plan)
• Using any VPnet Plan for a Call Centre. Plans for Call Centre use will be negotiated as a separate and customised plan
• Using any VPnet Plan for a Predictive Dialling system or for outbound or inbound Telemarketing
• Re-supplying or reselling the Service
• Wholesale of any Service (e.g. transit, refile or aggregate domestic or international traffic) on our network
• Abnormal or excessive use of back to base services
• SIM boxing or using the Service (including any of our SIM card(s)) in connection with a device or method that switches, routes or re-routes traffic (e.g. calls, SMS, data, etc.) to or from the our network or the network of any supplier
• Any use that affects another Customers’ access to the network or enjoyment of the Services
• Use of switch devices to overcome subscription and/or pricing charges, potentially limiting the ability for other Customers to access the Service; or
• Any other activity which would not be reasonably regarded as typical or ordinary use.

REGULATORY AUTHORITIES

By law, VPnet is required to assist law enforcement agencies. We may be required to comply with law enforcement or other lawful requests at any time without notice to Customers but in doing so will act in accordance with our legal obligations, including under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth).

For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.

LAWFUL USE

Customers must ensure that any use of our Services is lawful. It is their responsibility to determine that the content and information they choose to access when using a Service is lawful, even if the Customer’s Service was used without the Customer’s consent.

Customers are responsible for content stored, sent, accessed or distributed on or via VP Net’s Network and systems including content posted on web pages, email, social media, chat or discussion forums, bulletin boards, instant messaging and SMS.

Customers must not use Services to send or distribute content which is prohibited or otherwise unlawful under any applicable Australian law or in breach of an applicable Agreement. If Customers provide content using the Services it is the Customer’s responsibility to comply with the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth), any applicable Industry Codes and any other applicable law.

We are required by law to refer a Customer to the Australian Federal Police if we have reason to believe a Service has been used to access child pornography.

MONITORING COMPLIANCE

VPnet may monitor content transmissions to ensure compliance with this Policy.

If we believe that a Customer has breached this Policy, we may contact you and ask you to modify your use of the Service. Examples of changes VPnet may ask you to make and/or action VPnet may take without notice:

1. Suspend access to the Service indefinitely or for a specific period;
2. Terminate access to the Service and refuse to provide the Service to the Customer or their associates in the future;
3. Inform appropriate government and regulatory authorities of suspected illegal or infringing conduct;
4. Delete or edit any of the Customer’s data (including webpage content) stored on systems;
5. Override any attempt by the Customer to breach this Policy, such as specify a particular traffic routing pattern; and
6. Take any other action we deem appropriate, including taking action against offenders to recover the costs and expenses of identifying them.
7. We may also take any of the above steps if directed to do so by a regulatory or other law enforcement body.

VP Net’s right to suspend access to Services WITHOUT NOTICE under this Policy overrides any requirement we may have to give notice under the Agreement.

HOW TO REPORT A BREACH

You can report a suspected breach of this Policy by sending an email to: admin@vpnet.com.au.

HARDWARE AND WARRANTIES

Where we supply hardware, e.g. a mobile phone, modem, router, switch, PABX etc., you are entitled to a warranty under the Competition and Consumer Act and we are responsible for dealing with any warranty matters on your behalf with the manufacturer. All Hardware provided by VPnet comes with a 12 month warranty against defects. That warranty against defects does not apply to defects or damage caused by misuse, abnormal use, abuse or defects or damage caused by external events outside of VP Net’s control. for example fire or flood damage. You must claim against the warranty within the 12 month period.
Our services combined with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. For major failures with the service you are entitled:
– to cancel your service contract with us, and
– to a refund for the unused portion, or to compensation for its reduced value.
If the failure does not amount to a major failure, you are entitled to have problems with the service rectified in a reasonable time and, if this is not done, to cancel your contract and obtain a refund for the unused portion of the contract.

HOW TO CLAIM UNDER THE WARRANTY

In order to claim under warranty, you should contact VPnet on 1300 936 450 or via email to service@vpnet.com.au and advise that you wish to claim under the warranty. We will assess whether you are eligible to claim under the warranty and also determine whether to repair or replace your equipment, or provide an account credit.

If we determine that your Hardware needs to be returned, you will be sent replacement Hardware and a return freight bag in which to return the faulty Hardware.

If the faulty Hardware is not returned to us, with all cables, accessories and components, within 21 days of you receiving the replacement Hardware (and return freight bag), you will be charged the full price for the replacement Hardware plus any shipping costs. You will also still be liable for the full cost of the original Hardware.

If, on inspection of the returned Hardware, we determine the defect is not covered by warranty (because for example it was caused by misuse or abuse of the Hardware) you will be charged for the original Hardware and the replacement Hardware.

However we will not charge you for the replacement Hardware if you have not used that Hardware and return it to us in its unopened packaging.

Goods presented for repair may be replaced by refurbished goods of the same type rather than being repaired. Refurbished parts may be used to repair the goods. If a good you send to us for repair is capable of retaining user-generated data (e.g. telephone numbers stored on a phone) please note that some or all of your stored data may be lost during the process of repair.

The benefits of this warranty against defects is in addition to other rights and remedies that consumers can be entitled to under the Australian Consumer Law.

Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law.

You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure.

MOBILE PHONE SERVICES

MANAGING YOUR SPEND

Usage Notifications:

We will help you control your spend by providing you with notifications via email or SMS when you reach 50%, 85% and 100% of your call/SMS value and/or data allowance that is included in your mobile plan or in your broadband plan.

Usage notifications do not occur in real time but with a delay of up to 24 hours after you actually reached the respective thresholds. Usage notifications also do not include any usage that you may have consumed overseas (mobile roaming), calls and SMS to overseas destinations and calls to premium services.

Other ways to manage your spend

There may be other ways of keeping your spend on track, such as barring more expensive numbers, choosing an internet plan without excess charges (which means that your speed is shaped/slowed down once you used up your included data allowance) or monitoring your spend online through our website. Please contact us for more information.

Estimate your data usage

The table below may be of assistance to gain a better understanding of how much data you are using. This may help you choose the right service and avoid unexpectedly high bills. Please note that actual usage will depend on the device used, the technology used (3G, 4G) and other factors. The information below is based on averages and provides estimates only.

Mobile Roaming

Your mobile services allows you to roam (i.e. use it) overseas and you must contact us to activate / deactivate mobile roaming prior to travelling outside Australia should you wish to enable/disable this function.

Charges for mobile roaming (i.e. for calls, SMS and data) are usually significantly higher than within Australia and also higher than charges for making international calls from Australia. Importantly, you may also be charged for receiving calls and SMS when using your service overseas.

Making and receiving calls/SMS overseas is not included in your monthly allowance and you will be required to pay these charges in addition to your monthly charge. Therefore, even short periods of international mobile roaming can generate a very high bill.

Roaming is more expensive than using your service at home or making international calls. You may also be charged for receiving calls or making SMS messages.

Please contact us if you wish to receive more information on international mobile roaming.

Mobile Phone Network

We are responsible for the mobile phone service that we are providing to you, and we will be there to help in case you have any feedback or wish to complain.

VP Net’s mobile services are provided via a wholesale agreement with a Tier 1 Carrier, so our coverage will be the same as that provided by that Carrier. Please note that actual coverage depends on numerous factors, including local geographic and structural/building conditions.

FINANCIAL HARDSHIP POLICY

The Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code C628:2015 defines Financial Hardship as a situation where a customer is unable to discharge of the financial obligations in relation to our services but where the customer expects to be able to do so over time if payment arrangements are changed.

Contact Us

We encourage you to contact us if you experience any difficulties paying our services. Please contact us by calling 1300 936 450 if you would like to discuss any Financial Hardship matters with us. You can do so from 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, excluding Public Holidays.

The Process

When assessing your eligibility for Financial Hardship, we may ask you to provide certain documents such as:

• A statutory declaration or official written communication from a person or support group that is familiar with your circumstances,
• Evidence that you have consulted a recognised financial counsellor
• A statement of your financial position

We may not be able to make an assessment of your circumstances if you do not provide us with the requested information. We may use the information you provide as well as other information available to us. Once we received all required information, we will let you know within 7 working days whether you are eligible for assistance under our Financial Hardship Policy.

If you are eligible, we will work with you to come to an arrangement that allows you to pay your outstanding charges in a way that does not worsen your financial position. Where appropriate, we will discuss means with you how to limit your spend (this may include barring some service features) during the time of our arrangement and thereafter.

Once we come to an agreement we will put this in writing via letter or email to you. You must inform us if your circumstances change (for better or for worse) during our arrangement.

We will not charge you for assessing your Financial Hardship circumstances or for administering the matter.

Finding a Financial Counsellor

You can talk to a phone financial counsellor from anywhere in Australia by ringing 1800 007 007 (minimum opening hours are 9.30 am – 4.30 pm Monday to Friday). This number will automatically switch through to the service in the State or Territory closest to you. Alternatively, you can find the financial counselling service nearest to you by visiting www.financialcounsellingaustralia.org.au

COMPLAINT HANDLING PROCESS

OUR PRINCIPLES

VPnet Customers have a right to complain. If you are not happy with our services, we want to know about it so we can fix it. If you make a complaint, we will deal with it in a fair, efficient, objective manner and through a transparent process.

We strive to solve any problems you may have during your first contact with us.

Our complaint handling process complies with the requirements of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code C628:2015 (TCP Code) and responsibility for compliance with the process lies with our Chief Executive Officer.

FREE OF CHARGE

We will not charge you for dealing with your complaint in most instances, and we will never charge you without telling you first.

We may charge you to recover our costs in very specific circumstances only, i.e. we may charge you where you request information that was collected more than two years ago or where you request information that is not free of charge as per our Standard Form Customer Contract or our Critical Information Summary.

If cost recovery charges apply, we will tell you before charging you (and you may of course choose not to pay and discontinue your complaint) and we will inform you about your options for external dispute resolution, e.g. the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).

HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT TO VP NET

If you wish to make a complaint, please contact us by:

• Telephone: 1300 936 450 between 8.30am and 5.30pm weekdays.
• Email: admin@vpnet.com.au
• Mail: VPnet PO Box 70 Rosebery NSW 1445

If you are calling us from within Australia, your call to our 1300 number will incur a local call fee. Note that calling us from a mobile may be more expensive.
We will help you formulating, lodging and progressing your complaint if you request this.
You may appoint an authorised representative or advocate to make a complaint on your behalf. If you wish to appoint an authorised representative to deal with us your behalf, we will need you to complete a vp-net-authorised-representative-form and return it to us. We need to receive this signed form before can talk to your representative about your account.

Advocate vs Authorized Representative

Advocates:

An Advocate is a person or persons nominated by a consumer to deal with a supplier on the consumers behalf, who cannot make changes on a consumers behalf to the account without the consumer being present and agreeing to such action.

Some examples of cases for advocated include;

• Language interpreter
• Financial counsellor, legal aid rep, or other reps to help with bill or contracts with supplier
• Friend or family member to assist with communication

Permissions;

• A customer must be present and provide permission for an Advocate to make any changes to the customers account
• if a customer is not present;
  • Records from the account may be requested, such as Critical Information Summaries, bills ot other contact information previously established with the customer
  • Can discuss specific issues with the supplier on behalf of the customer but cannot make any decisions or changes to the account
  • Can pay bill on an account
  • Can work with the supplier to troubleshoot a device or service on the account
  • If the customer specifies, the advocate cannot discuss any issues to take on any actions, including payment, without the customer being present. This must be Stated in writing by the customer.
• For Privacy purposes, regardless of permission level, names and personal contact information of the customer will not be provided to an advocate if the customer is not present

Authorised Representatives

An authorised representative is a person or persons nominated by the customer to have full authority to deal with the supplier including to discuss or make changes to the customers account without the customer being present.

• Authorised representatives are anyone who can make changes to a customers account with out the customer being present
• Customers may wish to appoint a long-term authorised representative. This can be for a range of purposes, including another family member on the same account, a legal representative, or a long-time carer.
• Customers may also appoint a temporary authorised representative. This person is still able to make changes to the customers contract
• Dates in which the authorised representative is appointed and dates in which this representative expires must be stated in the VPnet Appointment of Authorised Representative Form

Permissions;

• When a customer assigns an authorised representative, they determine the exact activities the rep can do
• All limitations must be stated in the Appointment of Authorised Representative form
• If no limitations are stated, the authorised representative will have the same access as the customer
• An authorised representative effectively become the account holder, with all the same permissions, including the ability to open or close services and add other authorised representatives
• Activities include;
  • Open/close account
  • Add or remove other authorised representatives
  • Make changes to contract or plan
  • Make Changes to account
  • Establish financial hardship arrangements

WHAT VPNET WILL DO

Acknowledge…

We will acknowledge your complaint immediately if you complained in person or talked to us over the phone, and within 2 working days if you have lodged your complaint through any other channel including if you left a message on our answering machine (e.g. outside our office hours).

When we acknowledge your complaint we will give you a unique reference number (ticket number) to enable you to easily follow up on your complaint. We will also give you an indicative timeframe for resolving your complaint. You can follow up on your complaint by calling 1300 936 450.

And Solve

Our goal is to fix your problem during your first contact with us.

Sometimes this is not possible because we need to investigate the matter. If we can’t solve it on first contact, we will keep you informed on how we will fix your problem (this may include waiving of fees or other commercial solutions) and advise you accordingly within 10 working days of receiving your complaint. We will advise you in writing if you request this.

Occasionally it may take longer than 10 working days to investigate your problem and in this case we will explain why and give you a new expected timeframe.

If the delay is more than 10 working days (and is not the result of a Mass Service Disruption) we will also inform you about your options for external dispute resolution such as the TIO.

Once we agreed on how to fix your problem, we will implement all actions required to fix the issue within 10 working days, unless you agreed otherwise or unless you have not done something that we needed you to do and we cannot proceed because of this.

Urgent Complaints

Your complaint will be treated as urgent if:

• You have applied for being in financial hardship under our Financial Hardship Policy and the issue you are complaining about directly contributes to the Financial Hardship you are experiencing, or
• Your service has been disconnected or is about to be disconnected and due process has not been followed, or
• You are receiving Priority Assistance (e.g. because of a severe medical condition) for the service you are complaining about. In this case we will agree with you on how to address the issue and implement all required actions to fix the issue within 2 working days. If there is a delay, we will explain why, provide you with a new expected timeframe, and if it is a longer delay also inform you about your options for external dispute resolution such as the TIO.

Disputed charges

When making a complaint that involves the disputation of charges, you will need to specify the amount or the nature of the charges that you are disputing. We will not take any further Credit Management action in relation to a specified disputed amount whilst the complaint remains unresolved and continues to be investigated by either VP Net, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) or another recognised external dispute body.
Credit Management action in this case refers to the process by which we manage credit risk and/or the collection of outstanding debts from current and former customers.
We will delay the commencement of any legal proceedings while your complaint is being handled internally and for 7 Working Days after you are advised of the outcome of the complaint.

Resolution

If your complaint is not resolved at first contact, we will advise you of our proposed resolution of your complaint as soon as possible following the completion of our investigation but in any event within 10 Working Days from the date the complaint is received by us At all times we will advise you of any delays in the proposed timeframes.

If we do not believe the complaint can be resolved within 10 Working Days we will advise you before Working Day 10 of:

• The reasons for the delay;
• The specific timeframe for completion of the resolution; and
• If the anticipated delay is a further 10 Working Days or more (and is not the result of a mass services disruption), we will advise you of your options for external dispute resolution including the TIO.

Our proposed resolution must be accepted by you before we are required to implement the solution, however we can choose to implement a solution to your benefit without your prior approval. Following your acceptance of the proposed resolution, or earlier if we choose, we will complete all the necessary actions to deliver the resolution offered within 10 Working Days of providing that resolution unless:

• Both parties agree otherwise; or
• The actions require you or your other service to complete required tasks (such as provide network access or passwords or install equipment) and these tasks that have not been completed. In this event our 10 working day response time will begin again at the time that the required tasks have been successfully completed.Complaint tickets will be closed when any of the following have been achieved:
• We have obtained your consent;
• If we try to contact you with the contact details provided and there is no response. Where a complaint is closed with your consent, you can request written confirmation of the resolution which will be sent to you within 5 Working Days.

Escalation to a Team Manager

If you tell us that you are not satisfied with the complaint timeframes, its progress or the outcome; or if you tell us your complaint ought to be treated as urgent, we will escalate your complaint internally.
In some cases, either upon your request or upon the discretion of our customer service staff, the complaint may need to be referred to a Team Manager. The Team Manager may then need to call upon the authority or expertise of staff in other departments or relevant third parties. In this instance a ‘first-contact’ resolution may not be possible however you will receive a complaint reference and we will endeavour to resolve your complaint within our resolution timeframes.

VEXATIOUS OR FRIVOLOUS COMPLAINTS

In very rare cases we sometimes may encounter complaints that are frivolous or vexatious or behaviour from complainants that is in our reasonable opinion, fraudulent, racist, threatening or abusive.
We will not conclude that a complaint is frivolous or vexatious unless we have given the matter careful consideration and it has been appropriately escalated within our internal channels. After this, if we can do nothing more to assist the complainant or, in view of the complainant’s behaviour, we choose not to deal with the complainant any further, we will inform the complainant in writing of the reasons and tell them about the options for external dispute resolution including the TIO. We are not then required to accept any further complaints from that complainant on the same or similar issues other than in the course of an external dispute resolution process.

ESCALATION

We will never cancel your service only because you have contacted an external dispute resolution scheme.

If, after the internal escalation and complaint handling process has concluded, you are still not satisfied with the outcome or resolution of your complaint you are entitled to refer your complaint to the TIO.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman is a free and independent alternative dispute resolution scheme for small business and residential consumers in Australia with unresolved complaints about their telephone or internet services.

Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO)

We encourage you to always contact us first if you experience any problem or are unhappy. We will do our best to solve your problem during our first contact.

You can contact the TIO as follows:

Phone: 1800 062 058

Fax: 1800 630 614

Online: www.tio.com.au/making-a-complaint

The services of the TIO are free of charge.

CUSTOMER SERVICE GUARANTEE

Customers may have rights under the Customer Service Guarantee Standard (CSG Standard) made under the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.

The CSG Standard specifies timeframes for the connection of services, the repair of faults and the making and keeping of appointments. This applies to the standard telephone service, telephone line, and certain enhanced call handling features (namely, Call Waiting, Call Barring, Call Divert, Calling Number Display and Calling Number Display Suppression).

You may be entitled to financial compensation if we fail to meet our CSG Standard requirements.

The CSG Standard does not apply to mobile services, customer equipment or where you have more than five telephone services. In certain circumstances, VPnet is exempt from complying with the CSG Standard. These situations include:

• Where our ability to comply is impacted by circumstances out of our control, including for example, extreme weather conditions. For more information, visit our Mass Service Disruption Exemption page.
• Where you have specifically waived your CSG rights, in accordance with the Standard. If you have any enquiries about the CSG Standard, contact VPnet Customer Relations at:
  • Phone: 1300 936 450
  • Website: www.vpnet.com.au
  • Email: admin@vpnet.com.au
  • Mail: PO Box 70 ROSEBERY NSW 1445.

If you are not satisfied with the way VPnet has handled your query, contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman:

• Phone: (03) 8600 8700
• Free Call: 1800 062 058
• Fax: 1800 630 614
• Website: www.tio.com.au
• Mail: PO Box 276, Collins Street West Melbourne VIC 8007

Details of your rights and our obligations under the CSG Standard can be found at the ACMA Website.

WEBSITE

ACCEPTANCE

Please note that by accessing, browsing or using our web site, you acknowledge that you have read and agreed to be bound by these terms of use and our privacy policy and statement.

COPYRIGHT

Everything on this site is copyrighted. The copyrights are owned by VPnet and its affiliated companies, partners, or by the original creator of the material. Except as specifically stated, none of the material may be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form without VP Net’s prior written permission.

You also may not, without our permission, “mirror” any material contained on our web site or any other server. However, you are free to view, copy, print, and distribute VPnet material from this site, as long as the material is used for information and non-commercial purposes only and all copies of any material include VPnet copyright notice.

This permission terminates automatically upon the breach of any of these terms or conditions at which time any downloaded and/or materials printed from the web site must be immediately destroyed.

TRADEMARKS

The trademarks, service marks, and logos (the “Trademarks”) used and displayed on this web site are registered and unregistered Trademarks of VPnet and others.

Nothing on this web site should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any Trademark displayed on the web site, without the written permission of the Trademark owner.

You may not use these or any other VPnet trademarks or service marks without the written permission of VP Net.

LINKS

VPnet may provide hyperlinks or pointers to other web sites, including advertisements and commercial web sites, maintained by third parties. VPnet provides the links to any such third- party web sites for your convenience and information only and does not endorse the companies or contents of any linked sites.

The content in any linked web site is not under our control and may not have been reviewed by VP Net, consequently, if you decide to access any such web site, you do so entirely at our own risk.

NO WARRANTY

The information, text, graphics, and links provided herein are provided by VPnet as a convenience to its customers. Your use of this web site is at your own risk and VPnet assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained on the web site. Any information published on this web site is subject to change without notice (excluding detrimental variations of this Agreement).

The materials on this site are provided “as is” without warranties of any kind either express or implied. To the fullest extent possible pursuant to the applicable law, VPnet disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement or other violation of rights. VPnet does not warrant or make any representations regarding the use, validity, accuracy, completeness or reliability of, or the results of the use of, or otherwise respecting, the materials on this site or any sites linked to this site, including any expressed or implied warranties arising from any course of dealing, usage, or trade practice.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

Under no circumstances shall VPnet be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages, including, but not limited to, loss of data or profit, arising out of the use, or the inability to use, or resulting from the use or reliance on the materials presented in or through this web site, even if VPnet has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

VPnet also assumes no responsibility, and shall not be liable for, any damages to, or viruses that may infect, computer equipment or other property on account of access to, use of, or browsing in the site or downloading of any materials, data, text, images, video, or audio from the web site.

PRODUCT AND SERVICE INFORMATION

VPnet may at any time make changes to its products or services or discontinue any product or service without notice. The availability of the products and services described on this site, and the product and service descriptions, is only intended for Australia and may vary from state to state. Please contact Customer Service on 1300 936 450 for specific product and service information.

All products and services are licensed or sold subject to VP Net’s applicable terms and conditions of license or sale supplied at the time of order acknowledgment. Mention of non-VPnet products or services is for information purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.

PRIVACY POLICY

By providing personal information to VPnet and obtaining the Service, you acknowledge and consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as provided in the Privacy Act and this Agreement.

This Privacy Policy describes how VPnet manages and protects the privacy and personal information of our customers and their stakeholders.

VPnet is required to comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (‘APPs’) set out in that Act. The APPs establish minimum standards for the collection, use, disclosure and handling of personal information. They apply to personal information in any form, including electronic and digital.

VPnet is also subject to other laws relating to the protection of personal information. For example, it is subject to privacy obligations under the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth).

VP Net’s direct marketing activities must also comply with the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth) and the Spam Act 2010 (Cth). In this Privacy Policy, unless the context otherwise requires:

• ‘Privacy Law’ refers to any legislative or other legal requirement that applies to VP Net’s collection, use, disclosure or handling of personal information.
• ‘Personal information’ means information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not and whether the information or opinion is recorded in material form or not. Personal information includes sensitive information.
• ‘Sensitive information’ means personal information about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions or memberships, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, professional or trade association/union memberships, sexual preferences and practices or criminal record.

WHY DOES VPNET COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION?

VPnet collects personal information in order to:

• Provide and manage the products and services we provide, including for billing and credit control purposes;
• Inform customers about changes and improvements in VPnet products and services;
• Market VPnet products and services to current and prospective customers; and
• Comply with our legal obligations. VPnet needs to be able to collect personal information for most of its business activities, although the information we require depends on the particular circumstances. If we are unable to collect the personal information we need, we may be unable to meet the expectations of our customers or provide the products and services they wish to receive.

WHOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION DOES VPNET COLLECT?

VPnet collects or holds personal information about individuals who are:

• Prospective customers. This includes people we think may be interested in our products and services as well as people who have expressed interest in obtaining or learning more about those products and services.
• Current customers. This includes people who purchase VPnet products or services or who hold an account with VP Net.
• Past customers. These are people who have purchased VPnet products or services but do not currently hold any active VPnet account. VPnet may treat current and past customers as prospective customers for other VPnet products and services. VPnet may collect personal information about associates of its customers, such as employees or agents. In some cases, VPnet may collect personal information about nominated or authorised representatives, the holder of a credit card that is used to pay a customer’s account, a person who acts as a secondary account holder, a person who acts as guarantor for a credit contract, the landlord of a tenanted property or the nominated contact on a business account. VPnet may in rare circumstances collect personal information from people who are under the age of 18. If VPnet does this, VPnet may also collect personal information about the parent or guardian of that person. VPnet also collects personal information about all the individuals who are involved in providing VPnet products and services. This includes our service providers and suppliers, agents and affiliates, and their staff.

CAN YOU DEAL WITH VPNET WITHOUT IDENTIFYING YOURSELF?

In some limited situations customers and other individuals may be able to deal with VPnet anonymously or using a pseudonym. For example, if you make a general inquiry to one of our call centres, or want to make a complaint or log a service fault unless the inquiry or complaint relates to a particular account.
However, if you do not wish to be identified we may not be able to provide the information or assistance you require.

WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION DOES VPNET COLLECT?

VPnet collects a wide range of personal information about its customers, but the type and amount of information collected depends on the particular business context. However, VPnet seeks at all times to ensure that it only collects the personal information that is necessary for the purposes of its business activities.

VPnet needs to collect basic identifying and contact information for all customers, including prospective customers. In some cases, this may include name, date of birth, email address, telephone number(s) and residential address. For corporate and business customers, VPnet collects information about nominated contacts, including name and title or position, date of birth, telephone number(s) and email and business addresses.

VPnet also collects information about purchasing patterns, consumer preferences and attitudes from prospective and current customers for marketing purposes, including to analyse markets, develop marketing strategies and to identify and develop products and services that may be of interest to its customers.

When you become, or apply to become, a VPnet customer, VPnet collects a range of other information that that it needs to assess your application and manage your account(s). This includes:

• Proof of identity information, including passport number, driver licence number or other government identifiers. We need may this information to verify and ensure our customer records are accurate and up-to-date.
• Financial and credit information, including credit history, employment history, remuneration details, bank account and credit card information, information about assets and income and details of relevant court judgments and bankruptcies. We need this information to assess creditworthiness and financial suitability of current and prospective customers.
• Information relating to occupancy. We may need information to establish that a customer has rights to occupy the property to which we provide services, and for this purpose may require copies of tenancy agreements, mortgage records or utility bills or supply records.
• Information relating to change of name or status, which may include marriage certificates, death certificates and other official documentation. We may need this information where we are asked to close or transfer an account.
• Employment information, including information about employment history including current and past employers. We may need this information to assess the financial position of a business that applies to become a VPnet customer. We also collect information about the way our customers use our products and services. This includes information about:
• Service usage
• Responses to offers made and/or promotions run by VPnet or its affiliates
• Payment patterns and history
• Enquiries and complaints. We also collect information about our employees and prospective employees for the purpose of making employment decisions and managing our staff. We also collect information about suppliers, service providers, agents and affiliates, and their staff, for the purposes of conducting our day-to-day business activities.

INTEGRATED PUBLIC NUMBER DATABASE (IPND)

The Integrated Public Numbering Database (IPND) is an industry-wide database of all listed and unlisted public telephone numbers.

In accordance with the Communications Alliance IPND Code and the Telecommunications Act, carriers and carriage service providers are obligated to update this database daily with information such as the customer’s name, the customer’s address, the name of the service provider, what the number is to be used for (private or business) and whether the public telephone number is to be listed or unlisted in telephone directories.

In certain circumstances information held in the database maybe disclosed for approved purposes such as operator and directory assistance services, publishing public number directories, use by emergency services and law enforcement agencies and any other activity specified by ACMA. For example law enforcement agencies and emergency services have access to numbers and information held on this database regardless of whether numbers are listed or unlisted.

In providing telecommunications services, VPnet is required by law to collect certain personal information about you, including your name, address, telephone service number and other public number customer details, and to provide it to the operator of the IPND for inclusion in the IPND.

Information in the IPND is used to develop directories and to assist emergency service organisations. If your phone number is unlisted, your information will be marked accordingly in the IPND and its use and disclosure will be strictly controlled.

HOW DOES VPNET COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION?

We collect personal information by various means and via various media, depending on the particular business context.
We collect information about prospective customers both directly and via our agents, service providers and affiliates. We may collect this information:

• When you make an inquiry with a VPnet dealer or at VPnet event
• Through a VPnet dealer’s outbound and inbound sales activities
• Through our call centre
• Through VPnet websites, or websites operated by VP Net’s affiliates
• Through social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook
• Through the purchase of marketing lists, databases and data aggregation services.

When you become or apply to become a VPnet customer, in addition to collecting personal information directly from you, we may also collect information about you from our agents and affiliates, credit reporting agencies, your past and present employers, current service providers, family members or associates and other third parties.
When you apply to become a VPnet customer, we will ask you to consent to us collecting information from particular third parties. We will only collect personal information from those parties if you consent. If you do not consent, we may not be able to provide the service or product you require. We are authorised to collect some personal information from third parties under Privacy Law.
VPnet receives unsolicited personal information from time to time. In accordance with its obligations under Privacy Law, VPnet will decide whether it would have been permitted to solicit and collect that information and if it would not have been, will destroy or de-identify the information (provided it is lawful to do so).

WHAT INFORMATION WILL VPNET GIVE YOU WHEN IT COLLECTS PERSONAL INFORMATION?

VPnet is required by Privacy Law to take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of certain information when it collects personal information about you. For example, we are required to:

• Tell you which VPnet entity you are dealing with and how to contact it
• Make sure you are aware that we have collected the information (if we collect it from a third party without your knowledge)
• Identify any law that authorises or requires collection of the information
• Let you know the purposes for which we collect the information, the entities that the information is likely to be disclosed to and whether the information will be transferred outside Australia
• Tell you how to access our Privacy Policy and complaint handling procedures. This Privacy Policy sets out this information in general terms. However, where we collect personal information in relation to a particular product or service, and the information we are required to provide is not likely to be obvious from the circumstances, we usually provide the required information in a ‘collection statement’. The way we do this will depend on how you are dealing with us. For example:
  • When personal information is collected via the VPnet website or any affiliate website that VPnet may advertise on, a statement is displayed or a link provided to a statement that sets out the information we are required to provide
  • A statement containing the required information is printed on the sign-up page of most of the standard forms we use to collect personal information
  • When you deal with us on the telephone, this information is given to you by the operator or via a recorded message.If we collect personal information about you from a third party, we take reasonable steps to ensure you receive the information we are required to provide. However, we may do this by requiring the third party to provide the information, rather than us providing the information to you directly.We may also include information about our collection of personal information in welcome packs, customer account statements, update bulletins, notices and other documents we give to our customers.

VP NET’S USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Where VPnet collects personal information for a particular purpose, it may use and disclose the information for that purpose or another purpose that is related to that purpose (or that is directly related to that purpose in the case of sensitive information).

For example:

• Personal information collected from you for the purpose of establishing or managing an account may be used and disclosed for related purposes such as identity verification, credit checking, assessing entitlement to concessions, supplying and servicing a product, connecting and administering a service, billing and collection in relation to the service and investigating and rectifying complaints or faults
• Personal information collected for the purpose of establishing or managing an account may also be used for the purpose marketing of other VPnet products and services. VPnet may contact prospective, current or past customers about products and services.

VPnet may use personal information about prospective, current and past customers for the purpose of direct marketing of VPnet products and services or those of other organisations. Direct marketing communications may be sent via post, e-mail, telephone, door-to-door canvassing, social media sites or other means. However:

• VPnet will not use sensitive information for direct marketing purposes without your consent
• Unless you have provided consent, or we think it is impracticable to obtain your consent, VPnet will not use your personal information for direct marketing purposes where we have obtained the personal information from a third party, or we have collected it directly from you but believe that you would not reasonably expect the information to be used for direct marketing
• Whenever we communicate with you for direct marketing purposes, we will give you the opportunity to opt out of receiving further direct marketing communications from VP Net
• You may opt out of receiving direct marketing communications from VPnet at any time by contacting us at admin@vpnet.com.au or calling 1300 936 450
• If we use your personal information to facilitate direct marketing by other organisations on behalf of other organisations, you can ask us to provide the source of the information by contacting us admin@vpnet.com.au or calling 1300 936 450
• Personal information about VPnet staff, agents, affiliates and service providers is used and may be disclosed for the purpose of managing the relationship with the staff member or other entity
• VPnet may disclose personal information about VPnet customers to a range of third parties. For example, depending on the type of product or service, VPnet may disclose customer information to a wholesaler or other third party who provides or assists to provide the service
• VPnet may disclose personal information about VPnet customers to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (for complaint management purposes)
• VPnet may also disclose personal information for credit checking, collection or credit reporting purposes to a credit reporting agency or credit collection agency, in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act 1988.Personal information may also be disclosed to third party agents and service providers who VPnet engages to assist in the provision of products and services. These include:
• Sales agents and representatives
• Organisations that process banking transactions
• Organisations that process debt collection
• Printers, mail distributors, couriers and dispatch centres
• Call centres operated by entities outside the VPnet Group
• IT service providers and data managers
• Legal, accounting, insurance and business advisory consultants and services.

Personal information VPnet obtains in connection with the provision of telecommunications services may be disclosed in accordance with requirements of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth) and the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth). This includes disclosure:

• To the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman for the purpose of complaint management
• In connection with directory assistance, emergency service calls or other urgent services, and in particular to the operator of the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) for inclusion in the IPND, including your name, address, telephone service number and other public number customer details, and to provide it. (Information in the IPND is used to develop directories and to assist emergency service organisations. If your phone number is unlisted, your information will be marked accordingly in the IPND and its use and disclosure will be strictly controlled.)
• To law enforcement agencies for law enforcement or security purposes.VPnet may also disclose personal information without consent as authorised by privacy law for a range of other purposes, including:
• Where necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to health or safety;
• For law enforcement or crime prevention purposes;
• For the investigation of unlawful activity;
• For location of missing persons;
• For use in legal proceedings or dispute resolution.In situations other than those described above, VPnet will not disclose personal information without the customer’s consent (although consent may be implied).

IS PERSONAL INFORMATION DISCLOSED OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA?

VPnet discloses some personal information to persons or organisations that are outside Australia.

VP Net’s customer service and marketing call centre operations are based in Australia, in Rosebery, NSW. Personal information about prospective, current and past customers is accessed by our staff for the purpose of sales and marketing, customer service, correspondence, provisioning, fault management and technical support activities.

Database and web hosting services provided to VPnet involve personal information being transferred to IT service providers based in India, Philippines, Singapore, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America.

HOW DOES VPNET PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

VPnet recognises the importance of protecting your personal information and of ensuring that it is complete, accurate, up-to-date and relevant.

When you call VP Net, we complete an ID check to verify your identity and to check the details we hold about you are correct and to update them if required.

We have documented processes for verifying personal information collected for particular transactions, such as proof of occupancy and change of occupier. Our staff are trained to properly handle the different types of information they receive, particularly sensitive information. We have quality assurance measures in place to monitor calls to ensure that our processes are being followed.

While some of the personal information we collect is held in hardcopy form, most personal information is stored in electronic databases. We have extensive processes in place to ensure that our information systems and files are kept secure from unauthorised access and interference. These include:

• System access is controlled by logins and different security levels. Access to customer information for all staff is centrally controlled. Access requests must be supported by a request from senior management.
• Access authorisation is layered and access authorisations are specific to the job function of each staff member. For example, staff with responsibility for fault management have no access to credit card information. Staff are only trained in areas of the system specific to the function of their job.
• Functional restrictions apply. Remote access is only available to selected senior staff members. Measures are taken to prevent printing, copying or recording of customer information that can be accessed electronically.
• Account and system access and modification is logged to enable access or modification of any customer record by any staff member to be identified. Audits of access logs are conducted periodically.
• Our employees undergo privacy and information security training on induction and are required to sign acknowledgements of their obligations in relation information security and appropriate use of our IT systems.
• We have contractual arrangements in place with our agents, service providers and affiliates that require them to comply with applicable privacy laws and VPnet privacy policies. Our contractual arrangements with third parties who are outside Australia are designed to ensure that personal information transferred to those parties is afforded the same level of protection as would apply to the information in Australia.

CAN YOU ACCESS OR CORRECT PERSONAL INFORMATION VPNET HOLDS ABOUT YOU?

You have a right to access personal information we hold about you. If your request is particularly complex or requires detailed searching of our records, there may be a cost to you in order for us to provide you with this information.
If you believe there are errors in the information we hold about you, you have a right to ask us to correct the information. However, we are not required to provide access where we believe doing so would:

• Prejudice law enforcement or crime prevention activities
• Pose a serious threat to health or safety
• Have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals
• Prejudice VPnet in legal proceedings or negotiations with you
• Reveal information connected with a commercially sensitive decision making process
• Be contrary to law.

If you wish to have access to information VPnet holds about you, you should contact VPnet Customer Service at service@vpnet.com.au or call 1300 936 450.

RECORDING YOUR CALLS TO OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTRE

You acknowledge and give consent that any calls you make to our Customer Service centre may be monitored and/or recorded for quality training purposes.
If you wish for your call not to be monitored and/or recorded please advise the operator upon commencement of the call.

DEALING WITH VPNET ON-LINE

This Privacy Policy also applies to personal information that you email to us, provide by using our website or provide via social media sites.
We store the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer when you visit our site. This information is used only to create broad demographic summaries of where our users come from. Our use of these IP addresses, however, does not go so far as to identify the actual users of the site.

We collect personal information about the other websites that are visited by computers that are used to visit our site. This information may be aggregated to provide us with information about the types of web-pages and websites, or particular web-pages and websites, visited by computers that use our site.
Our website may use cookies and web-beacons. While cookies and web beacons can be used to statistically monitor and analyse the use of our site and to identify information about the computer used to visit our site, we do not use them for that purpose and will not attempt to use them to identify or target individual visitors to our website.

Note that this privacy policy does not apply to, and VPnet is not responsible for, the use of, or the protection of information provided to, other websites linked to this website.

COMPLAINTS

If you believe your privacy has been interfered with and wish to make a complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer. The Privacy Officer will investigate your complaint and notify you of the outcome.
If it appears from your complaint that there has been an interference with privacy by a person other than VP Net, the Privacy Officer may discuss the complaint with that person in an attempt to resolve it.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint, or you do not receive a response to your complaint within 30 days, you may make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Complaints to the OAIC must be made in writing. Where possible, complaints to the OAIC should be made through the online Privacy Complaint form, available at www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For further information on this Privacy Policy or if you have any concerns over the protection of your personal information, please contact The VPnet Privacy Officer at admin@vpnet.com.au
The Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) can be accessed at the website of the office of the Australian Information Commissioner: www.privacy.gov.au

SPAM AND I.T. SECURITY POLICY

Spam refers to one or more unsolicited commercial electronic messages for purposes of the Spam Act 2003. With your express or inferred consent we may now and again send you commercial electronic messages.
The Spam Act 2003 prohibits unsolicited commercial electronic messaging, which covers emails, instant messaging, SMS and other mobile phone messaging.
Commercial electronic messages must accurately identify their sender, and include a way for the recipient to unsubscribe from future such messages. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Spam Act 2003.
VPnet Customers may not use or allow any Service to be used to:

• Send, allow to be sent, or assist in the sending of Spam
• Use or distribute any software or code that may be viewed as malware for activities such as phishing scams, cryptolockers, trojan, virus, harvesting of e-mails etc.
• Otherwise breach the Spam Act.

VPnet may suspend any Service:

• If the Service provided to you is being used to host any device or service that allows email to be sent by or to third parties, whether or not under your authority or control
• If you are in breach of this policy.

However we will first make reasonable attempts to contact you and give you the opportunity to address the problem within a reasonable time period. What is reasonable in this context will depend on the severity of the problems caused.

Our right to suspend a Service applies regardless of whether the breach is committed intentionally, through mis-configuration, or by other means, whether or not authorised by you, including, but not limited to, via malware.
If the Service is suspended and the grounds upon which it was suspended are not, to our reasonable satisfaction, corrected by you within 7 days, we may terminate the Service.
In the event the Service is terminated under this clause, you may apply for a pro rata refund on any pre-paid charges for the Service, but we will have the right to levy a reasonable fee for any costs incurred as a result of the conduct that resulted in suspension.
You agree to use your reasonable best endeavours to secure any device or network within your control against being used by third parties, by installing, maintaining and updating effective and reasonable IT Security software, systems, processes and policies such as:

• Email Spam Protection and Email Virus protection
• Password quality standards
• IT Security Software
• Firewall hardware and software
• Upgrading and updating operating system and application software.

“Reasonable IT Security” in this context refers to the size of your organisation and the scale of the services we provide.
We may scan any IP address ranges allocated to you for your use with the Service in order to detect the presence of open or otherwise mis-configured mail and proxy servers.

COPYRIGHT POLICY

CONTRACT TERMS AND COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Our customers must not use our Services to commit any offences or infringe the rights of another business, organisation or individual. VPnet does not authorise or condone any kind of copyright infringement.
If you use our network or systems to infringe copyright, this will constitute a breach of the Agreement, which may allow us to suspend, limit or terminate your Services.
By acquiring or using any VPnet Services, you are taken to have agreed to comply with the terms of this Policy.
We may rely on this Policy where a Customer or other end users’ use of the Services is not in accordance with this Policy.

ABOUT COPYRIGHT

Copyright is the exclusive rights of people and organisations that create of original works to protect their work from unauthorised use, duplication or distribution. Copyright covers content and intellectual property such as software, music, movies, TV shows, books, news articles, games etc.
You must exercise caution when downloading or accessing content online. Using the internet to download, copy, share or distribute material protected by copyright may breach the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), unless you are allowed to do so by law or you have the copyright owner’s permission.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU BREAK THE LAW

If we believe or we are reliably informed that a customer is breaching the Copyright Act, VPnet reserves the right to suspend, limit or terminate a Customer’s Services in accordance with this Policy.
We will not provide personal information of a current or former Customer to copyright holders unless they obtain a court order which requires us to provide such information.

DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE

Copyright owners can provide notifications that relate to allegations of copyright infringement and we will respond to these in line with our Copyright Policy.
If you are a content owner and you believe your Copyright has been infringed, you may contact us on 1300 936 450 or e-mail us at admin@vpnet.com.au

Financial Hardship

The Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code C628:2015 defines “Financial Hardship” as a situation where a customer is unable to meet their financial obligations in relation to our services but where the customer expects to be able to do so over time if payment arrangements are changed.

Contact us:

We encourage you to contact us if you experience any difficulties paying our services. Please contact us by calling 1300 936 450 if you would like to discuss any Financial Hardship matters with us. You can do so from 8.30am to 5.30pm.

The process:

When assessing your eligibility for Financial Hardship, we may ask you to provide certain documents such as:

• A statutory declaration or official written communication from a person or support group that is familiar with your circumstances
• Evidence that you consulted a recognised financial counsellor
• A statement of your financial position.

We may not be able to make an assessment of your circumstances if you do not provide us with the requested information. We may use the information you provide as well as other information available to us. Once we received all required information, we will let you know within 7 working days whether you are eligible for assistance under our Financial Hardship Policy.

If you are eligible, will work with you to come to an arrangement that allows you to pay your outstanding charges in a way that does not worsen your financial position. Where appropriate we will discuss means with you how to limit your spend (this may include barring some service features) during the time of our arrangement and thereafter.

Once we come to an agreement we will put this in writing via letter or email to you. You must inform us if your circumstances change (for better or for worse) during our arrangement.

We will not charge you for assessing your Financial Hardship circumstances or for administering the matter.

Finding a financial counsellor:

You can talk to a phone financial counsellor from anywhere in Australia by ringing 1800 007 007 (minimum opening hours are 9.30 am – 4.30 pm Monday to Friday). This number will automatically switch through to the service in the State or Territory closest to you.

Alternatively, you can find the financial counselling service nearest to you by visiting http://www.financialcounsellingaustralia.org.au/Corporate/Find-a-Counsellor.